I just signd up with Shadow Shoppers and they had 3 memberships to choose from.
The bronze which was free.The silver for 60.00 a year and gold a whopping 100.00 a year. I got my confirmation e-mail with a job already available. It was setting up a scooter display for 40.00's.I clicked on the link and tried to pull up the details on the job but it brought me to the gold and silver page prompting me to pay before I could view the job.I think this is sneaky on there part because why did they let me sign on as a free bronze member if they had no intention of letting me assign the job?
Has anyone experienced this?And can I get more feedback about if there are actual jobs avaialable?

To the best of my knowledge their jobs are free to members. I don't know if there is discrimination between the various levels of membership as to what you are eligible for, but that does sound sneaky. Keep your money in your pocket and since I believe your Bronze membership is free only for a limited time, make certain that you cancel it at least a few days before the trial period is over so you do not discover unwanted and unintended charges on your credit card. They have a reputation for getting in there fast (and perhaps early) to charge your card and do not give refunds. One shopper here last year was understandably concerned because she apparently did not get the cancellation done quickly enough and discovered she had just purchased a 1 year $100 membership. She stopped shopping after a few months so that was a real waste.

Thanks for the feedback ya'll!!!
Joan it would probrably be worth it for me to join being it would be like paying $5.00's a month.They do seem to have a lot of shops available in the Lafayette,LA. area which is refreshing because I've been signing up for gobs of Mystery Shopping companies only to find out they don't have any shops available.So I think I will go for it!!!

Have you checked Jobslinger.com for companies that shop your area? It is a free resource and draws from job boards at the MSPA as well as Volition and from every SASSIE company that has authorized it. You may be able to get leads there for companies without having to spend a cent.

The bronze membership is free indefinitely but it doesn't get you much. As a bronze member, you can go to the site and log in and search for jobs. When you search, you can't see the details of the jobs unless you are a silver or a gold member (paying member). Sometimes as a bronze you can see the name of the company, so you know to go to their website if you are signed up with them (or to sign up if you want to see the job), but not always. Sometimes all you can see is the teaser ..... and no company name and no details.

That is completely ludicris. Everyone seems to be saying on other sites that Shadow Shopper is awesome, but any company that makes you pay is full of beans. I signed up just to check them out, and all I've been getting are loads of emails saying "we give up, have a free membership" - but just like other sneaky companies, they will charge you within a short period of time if you forget to cancel. They're practically scamming people who make such a low amount of money off of this...it's BS really.
If anyone shops for them, please let us know what your experience has been like.

It is an aggregator site. They do not employ shoppers. They help shoppers and schedulers connect to fill jobs. Shoppers pay for the privilege.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

I am aware of that, absoultely. I'm simply stating that when given a choice, jobslinger (for example) is a much better option. I am also curious if anyone has paid for the priviledge, what their experiences have been like.
I just signed up for jobslinger plus, which also has a free trial, but they announce when the trial is about to expire and give you a full month free. Oh, and no credit card needed, which is a major plus.

I have used it for a highly discounted fee for one month. I did it last December when my husband took an 80% cut in pay due to the economic climate here. I got more than my less than $5 fee worth from it...over $150 in shops during that one month, ones I would not have gotten otherwise. If you search them here you will find my experience, as well as other people's, both postive and negative. I will probably do it again in Dec. or Jan. for one month, for the reason that many companies change MSC's around this time, and it is an easy way to find stuff. You need to be careful to cancel BEFORE it expires. Otherwise, you will be charged with no recourse on your part.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

Which is, of course, a small expenditure where you have specific goals in mind--finding quickly which clients went to which companies--rather than a global newbie type, "Help me find any job." And your short term membership, Dee Shops,. is going to be with Jobslinger Plus, not Shadow Shopper, if I recall correctly.

Brigid12, I have some concerns about folks who rave about Shadow Shopper and the other pay-to-play sites because all too often they seem to convince themselves that it is okay to recoup their own expense by the referral fees for referring others. As a general rule of thumb shoppers NEVER need to pay a dime to shop. I can understand the statements of some that it is a quick way to get started or that their market is so saturated they need to buy something or pay someone. At the same time, if you are just getting started and are unable to find anything in your area using the free Jobslinger or checking the companies' boards of the major players, the chances are that little if anything is going to show up with a paid provider either.

Flash Wrote:
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> Which is, of course, a small expenditure where you
> have specific goals in mind--finding quickly which
> clients went to which companies--rather than a
> global newbie type, "Help me find any job." And
> your short term membership, Dee Shops,. is going
> to be with Jobslinger Plus, not Shadow Shopper, if
> I recall correctly.
>
> Brigid12, I have some concerns about folks who
> rave about Shadow Shopper and the other
> pay-to-play sites because all too often they seem
> to convince themselves that it is okay to recoup
> their own expense by the referral fees for
> referring others. As a general rule of thumb
> shoppers NEVER need to pay a dime to shop. I can
> understand the statements of some that it is a
> quick way to get started or that their market is
> so saturated they need to buy something or pay
> someone. At the same time, if you are just
> getting started and are unable to find anything in
> your area using the free Jobslinger or checking
> the companies' boards of the major players, the
> chances are that little if anything is going to
> show up with a paid provider either.

No, Shadow Shopper. Jobslinger Plus was later and free. For two months. But only Sassie co.'s.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

I have been mystery shopping for seven years, with the exception of when I was out of the country in the Navy, and I'm finding jobs with no problems. I'm silver certified, as well. Jobslinger plus is just a way to manage the hundreds of shops out there so my computer isn't glommed up constantly with repeat offers. Some of these companies send the same job offer four times within a hour! I do not believe paying for anything is worth it unless it really, really helps you manage and organize your shops. As I've said before, this is just a trial to see if it works well. If it doesn't, it's back to the same ol' same ol' file folders routine. If there's one thing MS has, it's alot of trial and error before finding a niche that works well.
I agree with you Flash, I think it is not neccessary to pay for anything. This is one time (for free) I'm going to give a managing tool a shot.

Frankly I am dealing with the outfits that send out multiple emails daily for the same shop with no bonus offer even when it reaches "Urgent" status and the job was not worth the original fee (at least to me) by simply turning off the emails from those companies in my profile. There is little excuse to receive multiple emails daily for shops that are more than 500 miles away in another state. It is a waste of my time. You know who the offending companies are, I don't need to name names. But my reaction is that even when their jobs are in my area they don't pay well enough to turn on the vehicle ignition. They are low paying to start with, the left over junk shops they keep emailing about are a nuisance and a waste of my time because they don't know how to use their systems to select likely recipients, so just forget it folks. If I miss a 'golden opportunity' I also will have missed their endless spam.

I have been Gold Since July with the Shadow Shopper. I have been contacted by different companies with shops in my area. I have more then re-cooped my money spent. The Shadow Shopper is not just a job bank however they put you out to the various Mystery Shopping companies in your area. They do your searching for you. I do this full time and with the reporting I don't have time to do any extra searching on the net that everything else takes.

I heard about mystery shopping in 2005 when I moved here in the US. I got emails about it and the sites i went to requires a fee. I didn't wanna pay anything so I researched about it. It took me 6 months to find this site [www.mymommybiz.com]. I never paid a dime to be a mystery shopper and I still get lots of shops specially gas stations and fast food restaurants.

Brigid12 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am aware of that, absoultely. I'm simply stating
> that when given a choice, jobslinger (for example)
> is a much better option. I am also curious if
> anyone has paid for the priviledge, what their
> experiences have been like.
> I just signed up for jobslinger plus, which also
> has a free trial, but they announce when the trial
> is about to expire and give you a full month free.
> Oh, and no credit card needed, which is a major
> plus.

I agree with Brigid12, DO NOT pay. There are several FREE aggregator sites out there such as Jobslinger, Volition, Summit Scheduling, VIP Scheduling, BLD Scheduling Service, KSS International and the Mystery Shopping Providers Association website.